James Kirkup is The Telegraph's Executive Editor (Politics). He was previously the Telegraph's Political Editor and has worked at Westminster since 2001.

What if the Liberal Democrats cut taxes?

Full coverage of UK PoliticsA senior Lib Dem type kicks me in the shins and wonders why the Telegraph (and many other papers, come to that) didn't make more of the tax hints in Nick Clegg's speech on Sunday.

Would Liberal Democrats support a tax-cutting manifesto?

See this part in particular: "So if, before the General Election, we find we can deliver our objectives with money to spare, we shouldn't look for new ways to spend it. We should look for new ways to hand it back, especially to those who need it most."

It's a good point. After all, should the Lib Dems go into the next election promising tax cuts, what would that do to George Osborne, currently desperately trying to make the Tories hold the line on his pledge to match Labour's spending plans?

Could be lots of fun indeed. Though I have to remind my friend with the hobnail sandals that it's all predicated on some fairly large hypotheticals, especially the willingness of the Lib Dem rank-and-file to swallow a tax-cutting manifesto. So far, the faithful have been willing to go along with some radical-sounding pledges on public services, but can the powerful group of reforming Lib Dem MPs that now holds sway at Westminster persuade them to take the next step? We'll see.